The battle over the EU’s response to the Dieselgate scandal is drawing to a close. It pits the rebels advocating for more effective controls (the European Commission and Parliament) against the regressive forces of the Empire (some national governments and the car industry), writes Julia Poliscanova.

The final battle lines are now being drawn between co-decision makers on the European Commission’s key proposals in response to the Dieselgate scandal. On one side sit the rebel forces of the Parliament and Commission, supported by NGOs and consumer organisations, advocating for more effective controls and oversight in the system of approving new cars for sale. On the opposing side are the regressive forces of the Empire: the governments which are supported by carmakers in their determination to maintain the status-quo.

It is approaching 18 months since the Commission proposed to reform the Type Approval and Market Surveillance Framework Regulation. It aimed to strengthen and bring consistency to the ways cars are approved and to increase transparency. In April, the Parliament finalised its constructive position under the unlikely champion of British ECR MEP Daniel (Han Solo) Dalton who strengthened the proposal of industry commissioner (Princess Leia) Bieńkowska. Now it’s the turn of member states to hammer out a deal in Council where the constructive Maltese presidency has its work cut out in finding a compromise. So far, governments have been dragging their feet, reluctant to disrupt their cosy relationship with carmaker. The brooding presence of the German Chancellor (Darth Vader) casts a shadow over the proceedings.

At the heart of the disagreements are how much influence the Commission can have to ensure that carmakers stick to the rules and that these are consistently applied by national approval authorities. The Parliament’s EMIS enquiry into the VW emissions scandal showed that member states have dismally failed to enforce the EU emissions rules. Instead of protecting the public and consumer interests, they treat approving cars as a commercial activity or as a means to give competitive advantage to home champions. Parliament wants independent audits and to give the Commission the power to remove the right to approve cars if a regulator consistently fails to apply the rules correctly. The Commission suggested a weak system of peer reviews; but Council has passed the buck to technical services, or the labs national regulators use to perform approval tests. Many member states want the ability to continue to turn a blind eye to unlawful practices when it suits them such as allowing cars to turn down exhaust controls at temperatures below 17°C so carmakers can fit cheaper systems.

Battles are also expected over whether the Commission should have powers to fine carmakers who have broken EU laws. The Parliament also wants the Commission to be able to levy fines of up to €30,000 per vehicle, similar to the powers of the US Environmental Protection Agency. So do some countries, notably France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland. But many countries, including Italy, Spain and Poland, are opposed; as is Germany although it has still not finalised its official position. Germany is reluctant to accept any of the new controls and proposed reforms. This leaves carmakers unlikely to be sanctioned (and therefore more likely to cheat) as national regulators do not impose sanctions themselves yet they refuse to concede this role to the Commission.

Despite the same defeat devices being used by the Volkswagen Group in Europe and the US, VW has not been fined by Germany. Meanwhile, Skoda has not been prosecuted by the UK, Audi by Luxembourg, or Seat by Spain (where those vehicles were approved). Without independent powers at an EU level to penalise carmakers, regulatory capture and stalemate on emissions manipulations will continue.

Member states have also deleted provisions to limit how long an approved car can continue to be sold for after new regulations come into force. This was introduced to close loopholes that allowed cars using ozone-busting refrigerants to continue to be sold years after the deadline to end their use. A key demand by carmakers, the loophole will in the future be used to allow grossly polluting dirty diesels to continue to be sold in their millions even after new real-world tests commence. New data by Emissions Analytics shows that the diesel cars sold across Europe in the last few months pollute even more than before.

By the time co-decision makers strike a final compromise more than two years will have passed since the VW scandal erupted in the US. The EU has the opportunity to demonstrate it is serious about applying its rules consistently across the union and creating a level playing field on which businesses fairly compete. Business should also know that if they cheat they will be penalised, as in the US. There are more than 29 million grossly polluting diesel cars on the EU’s roads that are the dominant source of urban air pollution that kills nearly half a million people annually.

If Europe cannot respond effectively to the Dieselgate scandal citizens will rightly ask in whose interests the single market and the Union really works: citizens or business? Will the rebel forces prevail or will the Empire strike back? The forthcoming Council meetings concluding with the Competitiveness Council on 29 May, at which the Council position will be finalised, will show who the Force is with.

Julia Poliscanova is clean vehicles and air quality manager at sustainable transport group Transport & Environment.

]]>http://2celsius.net/will-the-empire-strike-back-in-the-next-dieselgate-fight/feed/0Governments demand new EU vehicle safety rules to cut road deathshttp://2celsius.net/governments-demand-new-eu-vehicle-safety-rules-to-cut-road-deaths/
http://2celsius.net/governments-demand-new-eu-vehicle-safety-rules-to-cut-road-deaths/#respondThu, 16 Feb 2017 00:02:16 +0000http://2celsius.net/?p=1417Transport ministers from eight countries have united to demand new EU-wide standards for vehicle safety. Safer vehicles, such as trucks with improved direct vision to eradicate blind spots, need to be rolled out fast, the governments – which include those of France, Germany and Italy – told internal market commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska in a letter. In 2015, 26,000 Europeans died in traffic accidents but the number of fatalities has stagnated since 2013 – despite the EU demanding that member states halve the number of road deaths by 2020.

The ministers underlined the importance of truck safety, saying that improved truck design could save up to 900 lives a year through better direct vision as well as crash performance. They said the EU, which has exclusive competence on vehicle safety measures, must make a proposal “well before the end of 2017”.

Austria’s minister for transport, Jörg Leichtfried, said: “Truck design has huge potential for safety improvement, especially with regards to vulnerable road users. EU standards for direct vision and mandatory fitment of active safety technology such as camera systems that provide drivers with a 360° view around the vehicle could save lives. The review of the General Safety and Pedestrian Safety Regulations should therefore be a top priority for the European Commission.”

The ministers underlined the safety of cyclists and pedestrians especially in cities and called on the Commission to not wait any longer and make road and truck safety a priority, echoing an earlier call from London, Madrid, Copenhagen and Amsterdam for safer trucks. Only the EU can make safety technologies mandatory for new vehicles but the EU’s last vehicle safety law – the General Safety Regulation – dates back to 2009 and the Commission has repeatedly missed deadlines to review it.

The chair of the European Parliament transport committee, MEP Karima Delli, said: “Safety on roads is a top priority. The EU must do its part by mandating the roll out of the most effective safety technologies in our vehicles, which will protect pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. We have been waiting too long and expect a General Safety Regulation proposal that enables behavioural changes and allows new tools for digital assistance to drivers. We need this before the end of 2017 if we are to achieve our goal of zero road deaths a year.”

Stef Cornelis, safer and cleaner trucks officer at NGO Transport & Environment, said: “Support for a EU action on vehicle safety is overwhelming. In recent months city mayors, safety groups and now the biggest EU governments have called on the Commission to urgently mandate car and truck safety improvements that could save thousands of lives. The General Safety Regulation is a unique opportunity that shouldn’t go to waste.”

For the first time this year, the Commission will also be able to produce an EU-wide estimate of the number of people seriously injured on European roads.

European roads are the safest in the world. Over the past decades, Europe made excellent and sustained progress in road safety and saved thousands of lives. In 2001, 54 000 people died on the roads. Since then, the death toll has been more than halved despite a twofold increase of the number of vehicles in circulation. As a comparison, the US counts twice as many road fatalities per million inhabitants as Europe.

Still, everyday 70 people are killed on European roads, and over the last years progress in reducing road fatalities has been stagnating. To reach the EU strategic target of halving the number of road deaths from 2010 to 2020, additional efforts are needed.

]]>http://2celsius.net/30-march-commission-publishes-eu-road-safety-statistics-for-2015/feed/0330 km of new express roads in Poland to overcome bottlenecks in trans-European infrastructurehttp://2celsius.net/330-km-of-new-express-roads-in-poland-to-overcome-bottlenecks-in-trans-european-infrastructure/
http://2celsius.net/330-km-of-new-express-roads-in-poland-to-overcome-bottlenecks-in-trans-european-infrastructure/#respondThu, 17 Mar 2016 23:26:05 +0000http://2celsius.net/?p=1350European Commission has approved ten major projects worth €3.3 billion for the construction of approximately 330km of new express roads in Poland. The projects will receive contributions from the Cohesion Fund of €1.2 billion and €493 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), reads a DG MOVE press release.

Violeta Bulc, Commissioner for Transport, stated: “Transport is a strong driver of economic growth, jobs and trade. It is therefore a priority of the Commission to boost public and private investment in this sector. ESI funds are a prime example and other instruments exist, such as the Connecting Europe Facility or the European Commission’s Investment Plan. I hope to see many other transport projects being supported by the EU in Poland.”

Four major projects located in the regions of Lower Silesian and Lubuskie will receive a contribution of €776.2 million from the Cohesion Fund. Many of the roads are conducted on the track of existing national roads or in their vicinity, and are part of the Baltic-Adriatic TEN-T Core Network Corridor. The projects will eliminate bottlenecks in transport communication, attract business and improve road safety.

The European Commission will also invest €493.3 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in two major projects in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie region where the express road S7 is a part of the TEN-T corridor. The improved connectivity will boost trade and tourism.

Additionally, access to inter-regional connections will be improved thanks to investments worth of €441.3 million from the Cohesion Fund through four major projects in the regions of Podlaskie, Małopolskie, Swiętokrzyskie and Mazowieckie where the Via Baltica, a 970km stretch between Warsaw and Tallinn, constitutes a significant connection between the Baltic States.

The co-financing decision for these projects falls under the programming period 2014-2020.

Poland has been allocated approximately €67 billion in Cohesion Policy funding for 2007-2013, and €77.6 billion for 2014-2020.

]]>http://2celsius.net/330-km-of-new-express-roads-in-poland-to-overcome-bottlenecks-in-trans-european-infrastructure/feed/0Aviation Emissions Stay Uphttp://2celsius.net/aviation-emissions-stay-up/
http://2celsius.net/aviation-emissions-stay-up/#respondWed, 09 Mar 2016 15:02:50 +0000http://2celsius.net/?p=1344In matters of carbon emissions, aviation is a long and endless orgy of emissions. Aviation must therefore contribute to the global price of carbon.

On the other hand, European aviation has imposed low cost business models that grew constantly over the last two decades. Indeed they opened unprecedented business opportunities. However,

the main challenge for the growth of EU aviation is to address the capacity, efficiency and connectivity constraints. The fragmentation of the European airspace costs at least €5 billion a year and up to 50 million tonnes of CO2. Therefore, the new Aviation Strategy is perceived as averting carbon emissions.

Despite the “holistic approach” in developing European aviation, the overall decarbonization of transports lags behind as trans-border night trains are being discontinued all over the continent. Naturally, these distances are covered by aviation (low-cost) services. Hence an increase in carbon emissions and a “dirty growth.”

Henrik Hololei, DG MOVE

Henrik Hololei, Director-General for Mobility and Transport at the European Commission’s DG MOVE, rejects the “dirty growth” theory since European aviation companies invested in inovation and technology leading to an overall curbing of emissions in aviation services.

The new European Strategy addresses a range of subjects, including current and future green technologies to reduce aircraft emissions, technologies for green aircraft operations, eco airports, renewable energy, sustainable alternative fuels for aviation and financing and assistance.

Hololei underlined that “we are talking about less than 2% of the overall global emissions when tackling aviation; anyway, in September 2013 all went into the wall when at ICAO only EU and USA were the ones to request cuts in emissions.”

“We push more this year as ICAO will have to come forth with CO2 standards for new aircrafts; failure is not an option if we keep the target to have a carbon neutral growth starting 2020,” stressed Hololei.

In 2010, the ICAO General Assembly passed a resolution to explore the guiding principles for the design and implementation of a global market-based mechanism (MBM) of CO2 emission reduction. The formal decision was adopted in 2013 by the ICAO General Assembly, which decided to develop an MBM to “bridge the gap” between achievable in-sector reductions and the 2020 goal. The decision was, in part, in response to EU legislation that, since 2012, included emissions from all flights from, to and within the European Economic Area – the 28 EU member States, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). [Alice Bisiaux, LL.M. for IISD – Emissions from International Transport (AKA the Elephant in the Climate Change Policy Room)]

The EU legislation applies to both EU and non-EU airlines, and sparked protests from airlines, manufacturers, trade groups and aviation officials from non-EU countries. These protesters argued that the EU legislation was extraterritorial and therefore illegal under international law. In response to a backlash from the aviation sector, and to allow time for negotiations on a global MBM through ICAO applying to aviation emissions, the EU ETS requirements were suspended for flights in 2012 to and from non-European countries. For the period from 2013-2016, the EU legislation has also been amended so that only emissions from flights within the EEA fall under the EU ETS. The temporary EU ETS exemption puts additional pressure on ICAO and its members to establish an MBM in 2016, as the full EU ETS requirements will otherwise revert in 2017.

ICAO announced a carbon emissions standard that would apply to new aircraft from 2020, and to all new deliveries of in-production aircraft – current types, or minor variations on current types – as from 2028.

Aircraft that don’t meet the standard will not be allowed to be produced after 2028. None of the operational aircraft currently in the fleet will be affected.

“New generation aircraft are generally some 10-15% more fuel efficient than those they replace. They need to be to sell. This translates to an average annual efficiency improvement of between 0.5% and 1.0%. Constant market pressures result in a continuously improving line when you plot the average fuel consumption of new aircraft types against their entry into commercial service date,” says Bill Hemmings, Director, Aviation and Shipping, at Transport & Environment.

Yet ICAO intends to regulate this ever improving trend with a flat (time independent) carbon standard. Even if the stringency is initially set at a level that will have an impact, its effect will quickly fade over time as market-driven improvements cut in.

The maximum theoretical effect of the standard at maximum stringencies is just 1 gigatonne of CO2 between 2020-2040, while total CO2 emissions from aviation over this period will be in the order of some 31 Gtonnes, i.e. a potential saving of just 3%, concludes Hemmings.

]]>http://2celsius.net/aviation-emissions-stay-up/feed/075,000 deaths from diesel fumes the legacy of Europe’s lax vehicles limits (T&E)http://2celsius.net/75000-deaths-from-diesel-fumes-the-legacy-of-europes-lax-vehicles-limits-te/
http://2celsius.net/75000-deaths-from-diesel-fumes-the-legacy-of-europes-lax-vehicles-limits-te/#respondMon, 30 Nov 2015 16:58:27 +0000http://2celsius.net/?p=1275Today’s finding by the European Environment Agency that nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution is responsible for an estimated 75,000 premature deaths in Europe shows how deplorable EU governments’ watering-down of diesel car NOx emissions limits is. For the first time the EEA has estimated the number of premature deaths from nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is largely created by diesel vehicles.

Last month governments agreed to new NOx limits from diesel cars that are double the ‘Euro 6’ levels agreed back in 2007. They also delayed the implementation of new limits for all new cars until 2019. This weakening of EU air pollution limits will extend the number of locations continuing to exceed NO2 limits that breach European Directives. 93% of the locations breaching nitrogen dioxide limits are close to roads.

Greg Archer, clean vehicles manager at T&E, said: “75,000 deaths from nitrogen dioxide in Europe, mainly from diesel vehicles, is a deplorable death-toll. Yet EU governments are unnecessarily weakening air pollution limits for diesel cars simply to suit carmakers. Environment ministers must think again at their forthcoming Council meeting.”

Italy (21,600), the UK (14,100) Germany (10,400), France (7,700) and Spain (5,900) suffered the most premature deaths from nitrogen dioxide. All these countries lobbied in favour of weaker limits for diesel cars but are breaching EU nitrogen dioxide limits. The estimates for the UK are significantly lower than the UK’s own estimate of 23,500 deaths attributable to NO2 – indicating the EEA’s method may be conservative.

Environment ministers will meet on 16 December to consider the decision to weaken and delay NOx limits for diesel cars. It will come before MEPs in the Environment Committee on 14 December when they are expected to resoundingly reject the proposal as illegal because it raises the Euro 6 limits set in 2007.

The prospect of Volkswagen being fined $18 billion for manipulating air pollution tests in the US caused its shares to fall 22% and is sending shock waves through the automotive industry. VW has been ordered to recall nearly 500,000 cars, meaning a massive bill to correct the vehicles and potential class action claims for compensation. After initially refusing to comment, CEO Winterkorn issued a statement saying he was “very sorry”. The evidence suggests he will not be the last head of a carmaker offering apologies in the next few months as other manufacturers will be found making use of “defeat devices” for tricking laboratory tests.

Diesel cars are niche in the US, and in most of the rest of the world, representing just one in 7 cars sold worldwide. The VW recall is not large by global standards. But in Europe over half of new cars are diesels – 7.5 million of the 10 million sold globally last year were bought in Europe. There is strong evidence that similar illegal devices are also used in Europe by both VW and other manufacturers. Since 2009 (when VW began using defeat devices) over 40 million diesel cars have been sold in Europe, a sixth of all cars on the road today.

Over the past three years, Transport & Environment (T&E), with the support of the International Council on Clean Transportation (that alerted US authorities to its concerns over VW), has exposed countless ways carmakers manipulate emissions tests for both air pollution and CO2 emissions (fuel economy). For example, carmakers charge the car’s battery before a test, deduct 4% from each test result, and use incorrect laboratory settings for the inertia of the vehicle. The companies admit these tricks but claim they are “legitimate flexibilities” in the obsolete test used in Europe. Governments and the European Commission have been unwilling to challenge the industry and close the loopholes, instead focusing on introducing new testing systems that are scheduled to begin in three years’ time for all new vehicles.

Through trickery, the gap between official fuel economy figures and those achieved by an average driver have grown to 40%. For new diesel cars nitrogen oxide emissions are typically five times higher on the road than the allowed limit and just one in 10 cars meets the required level on the road. But for some models the gap is so large T&E suspects that the car is able to detect when it is tested using a “defeat device” and artificially lowers emissions during the test. For example: a diesel Audi A8 tested in Europe produced nitrogen oxide emissions 21.9 times over the legal limit on the road; a BMW X3 diesel was 9.9 times over the limit on the road; an Opal Zafira Tourer, 9.5 times; Citroen C4 Picasso 5.1 times. All these vehicles passed the laboratory test.

In CO2 tests, on average almost every Mercedes model achieves levels on the road over 50% higher than the laboratory tests; the BMW 5 series and Peugeot 308 achieve just shy of 50% higher than in the lab. For virtually every new model that comes onto the market the gap between test and real-world performance leaps. With the launch of the VW Golf Mark VII the gap between test and real-world CO2 emissions jumped from 22% to 41%. The gap for the new Mercedes C Class rose from 37% to 53%; for the Renault Clio IV the gap almost doubled from 19% to 34%. These changes are unlikely to be caused solely by the increased use of test flexibilities – the more sinister and illegal defeat devices may also be in use and T&E has initiated a testing programme to demonstrate this as the US authorities have done to expose VW.

But given the powerful anecdotal evidence, why haven’t European authorities undertaken similar tests to their US equivalents? Regrettably, the European system of testing is much less independent and robust than that in the US where 10-15% of new models are retested by the US authorities in their own laboratories. In Europe carmakers pay certified testing organisations to perform tests in the carmakers’ own laboratories. The tests are overseen by National Type Approval Authorities (in the UK the Vehicle Certification Agency). But carmakers ‘shop’ for the best deal from agencies across Europe and directly pay for their services. The job of the engineer overseeing the test is ultimately dependent on the next contract from the carmaker.

The VW scandal in the US, and what will follow in Europe as more evidence emerges, demonstrates the entire system of testing vehicles is not fit for purpose. What is needed is a truly independent EU Type Approval Authority funded by a levy of €20 on every vehicle sold. This would be remarkably cost effective – last year over 500,000 people died prematurely from air pollution in Europe, many the result of high diesel nitrogen oxide emissions. The cost was almost €1 trillion. The scandal of VW using defeat devices in the US is just the tip of the iceberg and the European Commission needs to get a grip on the problem.

]]>http://2celsius.net/vws-cheating-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/feed/0Just one in 10 new diesel cars is clean as the legal limit, report findshttp://2celsius.net/just-one-in-10-new-diesel-cars-is-clean-as-the-legal-limit-report-finds/
http://2celsius.net/just-one-in-10-new-diesel-cars-is-clean-as-the-legal-limit-report-finds/#respondMon, 14 Sep 2015 11:38:07 +0000http://2celsius.net/?p=1220Every major car manufacturer is selling diesel cars that fail to meet EU air pollution limits on the road in Europe, according to data obtained by sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E). All new diesel cars should have met the Euro 6 auto emissions standard from 1 September – but just one in 10 tested complied with the legal limit. (See infographic 1)
On average new EU diesel cars produce emissions about five times higher than the allowed limit. The results are compiled in a new report, Don’t Breathe Here, in which T&E analyses the reasons for and solutions to air pollution caused by diesel machines and cars – the worst of which, an Audi, emitted 22 times the allowed EU limit.

In fact just three out of 23 tested vehicles met the new standards when tested on the road. The main reason is Europe’s testing system is obsolete, allowing carmakers to use cheaper, less effective exhaust treatment systems in cars sold in Europe, according to newly released data. In contrast, diesel cars sold by the same manufacturers in the US, where limits are tighter and tests are more rigorous, have better exhaust treatment systems and produce lower emissions. (See infographic 2)
​
A new on-road test will, for the first time, measure diesels’ ‘real-world’ emissions but it will not apply to all new cars until 2018 at the earliest. Meanwhile, carmakers are continuing to try to delay and weaken the introduction of the tests by demanding further changes to the rules only agreed in July.

Greg Archer, T&E’s clean vehicles manager, said: “Every new diesel car should now be clean but just one in 10 actually is. This is the main cause of the air pollution crisis affecting cities. Carmakers sell clean diesels in the US, and testing should require manufacturers to sell them in Europe too.”

The cost to manufacturers of a modern diesel after-treatment system is around €300 per car.

The current testing regime has seen nitrogen dioxide limits exceeded across Europe, exacerbating asthma in vulnerable people and shortening life expectancy in polluted places. In the UK, where the number of diesel cars has risen from 1.6 million to 12 million since 1994, a government health agency found that thousands of people suffered attacks when smog full of tiny particles and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas typical of diesel emissions descended last spring. Estimates of the number of premature deaths in London also doubled once nitrogen dioxide effects were incorporated into the analysis.

The European Parliament today voted to end brick-shaped lorries, clearing the way for advances in fuel efficiency and safety for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. The new law allows lorrymakers to produce new designs but industry lobbyists secured a ban until 2022 even though the new designs are voluntary, not mandatory. The Commission will propose new safety requirements for trucks by amending its vehicle safety regulations by 2016.

William Todts of Transport & Environment (T&E), said: “With today’s vote we turn a page in road safety and lorry fuel efficiency, though the effects won’t be seen on our roads until 2022. It’s ludicrous that governments gave in to truckmakers’ condition to ban innovation for as long as possible. In an industry that sorely needs more competition, especially on fuel efficiency, Europe should now follow the US example and set ambitious fuel efficiency standards for lorries.”

The European Commission originally proposed that lorrymakers would be free to introduce the new designs by 2017. MEPs supported this stance but EU governments were persuaded to push for a ban until 2025 by manufacturers eager to delay any disruption of the “competitive balance” between them. In trilogue negotiations, the Parliament managed to reduce the delay to 2022, although the exact timing remains uncertain and depends on when the new safety rules will be agreed.

The design changes will allow European lorries to have slightly longer, more aerodynamic cabins than the current box-shaped ones, which are restricted to 2.35m in length. The new designs will improve protection for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as crash performance and the driver’s field of vision, which can be increased 50%. Before new designs can hit the road, the Commission must first develop the specific safety rules. A proposal for this has been announced for 2016.

Every year 15% of all fatal collisions in Europe – around 4,200 deaths – involve lorries, according to the European Transport Safety Council. That makes lorries twice as deadly as cars. According to a new European Commission study, life-saving design changes to lorry cabs can save up to 900 lives every year. In a separate declaration the Commission has said it will propose amendments to its vehicle safety regulations in 2016 to develop new safety requirements for trucks.

While lorries make up only 3% of vehicles, they account for 25% of road transport CO2 emissions in Europe. Their fuel efficiency has stagnated for the last 20 years and, contrary to cars or vans, the EU has not set fuel economy standards for trucks. T&E estimates that a more streamlined cab along with rear flaps could also improve fuel efficiency by up to 7-10%, saving hauliers around €3,000 per vehicle per year.

EU heads of state today agreed three modest climate and green energy targets for 2030, which lack the ambition needed to put Europe on track to meet its own 2050 climate commitments and will not do enough to cut dependence on fossil fuels. Sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) says that now targets have been agreed, all eyes should turn towards implementation: the means and policies to achieve these 2030 targets can still make a big difference for the climate and the transition to a low-carbon economy where transport is crucial.

Transport is the largest source of CO2 emissions in Europe, with a share of 31% in 2012, and is responsible for about half of Europe’s €400bn annual energy import bill.

The deal agreed today has mixed messages on how the EU will deal with transport. It has generic but useful language on the promotion of energy efficiency in transport and the need to accelerate the move to electric mobility.

However, the agreement most regrettably includes the possibility for EU countries to unilaterally include transport in the EU carbon trading system (ETS), a move that will do nothing to reduce transport emissions and only postpone the necessary transformation of the sector.

While the agreed EU-binding target of at least 27% for renewable energy is too low to unlock the full potential of solar, it represents an important signal that investments in solar photovoltaics will continue.

“The ball is now in the Court of the new European Commission to build on this minimum target with a meaningful legislative framework and fair market conditions for renewables. Technologies like solar must be able to realise their full competitive potential and keep Europe on track for the much-needed energy transition,” concluded Thies.”The renewables target is a very small step to support the enormous potential that solar and other renewables represent. It is still an important signal of political resolve to overcome the existing market barriers and the adverse national political contexts where some Member States have implemented retroactive measures for renewables,” stated Frauke Thies, EPIA Policy Director.

Nusa Urbancic, clean energy manager of T&E, said: “The real-world impact of today’s adopted targets will very much hinge on how Europe will actually go about them. It is up to the incoming Juncker Commission to make sure they are met in real life and not just on paper and give investors the right signals. Keeping transport out of the ETS and adopting new fuel efficiency standards for all vehicles are one example. Limiting the role of bioenergy and biofuels – zero emissions on paper, often a lot in reality – in favour of solar and wind is another.”

The Council deal is also short on details in the promotion of renewable energy in transport. Most biofuels currently used have no or very limited climate benefits, but their use still costs the EU €6bn every year. The Commission has already recognised that these biofuels should not receive any support post-2020.

“Biofuels are an object lesson in what happens if you set wrong targets. Juncker’s commission has the chance to fix this once and for all by focusing their attention on low carbon energy sources, especially clean electricity, that deliver for the climate. Ensuring that we spend the billions of public money on sustainable electrification of transport instead of bad biofuels should be a top priority,” Nusa Urbancic concluded.